Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,578,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,187,384 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.07% of Charles Schwab worth $9,516,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the third quarter worth $31,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Knuff & Co LLC increased its position in Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total transaction of $745,282.06. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 47,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,613,038.78. This represents a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE SCHW opened at $78.47 on Friday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $84.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $78.99 and a 200-day moving average of $74.79. The firm has a market cap of $142.30 billion, a PE ratio of 26.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. Charles Schwab’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SCHW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Company Profile

The Charles Schwab Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Investor Services and Advisor Services.